The Golden Arches are set to rise at West Ajo Way and South Mission Road.
Local business and community leaders said Thursday during a morning groundbreaking ceremony at the site of a new McDonald's restaurant that in addition to burgers and coffee, the franchise will help revitalize the underdeveloped intersection.
Sporting the chain's new, modern design, the eatery scheduled to open in November is expected to create at least 50 new jobs, said Roger Canchola, a Tucson McDonald's franchise owner and operator.
With a projected construction cost of $1 million, Damitio Construction will build the new McDonald's, designed by Robert Brown Architects, said Canchola, president of Arcos de Oro, which owns five other McDonald's and employs 248 people in Tucson.
Some businesses have closed in the shopping area of the new McDonald's site, but the business leaders at the ceremony said that once erected, the restaurant will bring more customers to the surrounding businesses.
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Tucson City Councilwoman Regina Romero, said the new McDonald's not only means new jobs, but also employment training for youths and a magnet for economic development to the intersection. But she has a personal connection to the Golden Arches.
She recalled that as a teenager, her first institutional job was as a cashier at McDonald's.
"I have a lot of history in this corner," said Romero who represents Ward 1, the west-side district where the McDonald's will be in.
Romero lauded the Canchola family for investing in the area.
"They (the Cancholas) always want to be a part of the community," she said. "I know that it will really boost the other stores around here."
After Msgr. Raul P. Trevizo of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church blessed the site, Romero and members of Tucson's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce congratulated the Canchola family for their business endeavor. Roger Canchola followed his late father's footsteps after he died in 2008.
The new restaurant will be the Canchola family's sixth and the first for the family without José Canchola, the father, who opened a McDonald's in Nogales in the mid-1970s.
The Ajo and Mission restaurant no doubt will hire and inspire employees of all ages to do better economically, but to pursue higher aspirations, just like he did, said Roger Canchola.
He said: "It's a great example of how people start the American dream. A lot of people have started at McDonald's. It's a great place to start and hopefully go on to bigger and better things."
Contact reporter Joseph Treviño at jtrevino@azstarnet.com or 807-8029.